Poland charges Belarusian with arson on behalf of Russian intelligence

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland has charged a Belarusian citizen who set fire to a large hardware store in Warsaw last April with committing an act of sabotage on behalf of Russian intelligence, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Poland says its role as a hub for supplies to Ukraine has made it a key target for spies who are trying to gather information on support for Kyiv's war effort and engage in acts of sabotage. Russia has regularly denied any involvement.

Prosecutors said a fire which broke out in the hardware store in Poland's capital on April 14, 2024 was the result of arson and the perpetrator was a citizen of Belarus, referred to as Stepan K. under Polish privacy laws.

"Moreover, it was established that the suspect Stepan K. committed the above arson acting for foreign intelligence, i.e. the intelligence of the Russian Federation, and on the order of the Russian special services," prosecutors said.

Stepan K. was charged with sabotage for foreign intelligence and a terrorist offence, a crime punishable by 10 years to life imprisonment. He was previously temporarily arrested in another case regarding espionage and participating in an organised criminal group.

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Christina Fincher)

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